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What have you just read? Opinions, recommendations & reviews
Rahat wrote: "I just finished The Miniaturists and I rated it two stars. It wasn't what I expected it to be. I thought I would be mesmerized by the story but I was disappointed instead."What were you expecting? I have read some mixed reviews although the book was extremely well received in the UK.
Angela wrote: "Just finished Inside the O'Briens . My review :https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."By Lisa Genova? You must have received an arc. Or??
Angela wrote: "Just finished Inside the O'Briens . My review :https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."Answered my own question by reading your review - thanks for that!
Yes it was an ARC from NetGalley .
Diana wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Diane,I too thought Euphoria was fantastic. I loved how King took Mead's life and made a fictional story of it. I loved how she captured the feel of the era, the excitement, when ..."Not so sure that one is for me.
Finished Rogues, a collection of 21 short stories by well-known authors. Not bad, but the ability to write a successful novel doesn't always translate to the short story form. My "short" review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Sandy wrote: "A few days ago, I finished reading A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella L. Bird. My review is here."I have considered reading this book, Sandy, since I live just outside of Boulder. Thanks for you review!
Sandy - I have added this to my shelf. This past summer my BF & I flew into Denver, then drove through the Rockies to the Grand Canyon, over to Zion, then a hit Bryce and the Arches in a big circle back to Denver. This summer we're planning on the more of the Rockies, the Tetons and Yellowstone.
Because of our travel plans, Im very interested to read this book.
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Loved the town of Williams by the grand canyon. We stayed at a place where you slept in renovated train cars. The canyon of course was awesome'Finished Snow Woman https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Grab a box of tissues for this one. Very moving. 3500: An Autistic Boy's Ten-Year Romance with Snow WhiteReview here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Greg - we are chomping at the bit to get out to Yellowstone. We can't wait.Diane - sleeping in revnovated train cars sounds like something my BF would love. I guess we'll just have to go back to the GC.
Monica - this sounds like a very emotional read, i've added to my shelf.
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That sounds like lots of fun Diane!
I highly recommend The Women by T.C. Boyle. He can write so you don't want to put the book down. Are you interested in Frank Lloyd Wright or love relationships in general? When real life is as complicated as this you certainly don't need fiction! OK, this book follows real events but the dialogs and feelings are filled in, so that makes it fiction. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I will certainly be soon reading more by Boyle.
Chrissie wrote: "I highly recommend The Women by T.C. Boyle. He can write so you don't want to put the book down. Are you interested in Frank Lloyd Wright or love relationships in ge..."good morning Chrissie!
The Women has been on my reading list for some time now - I've just moved it up some...thanks!
I just finished The Language of Hoofbeats. My review : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show.... A good story -3.5 stars.
Julia wrote: "Sandy - I have added this to my shelf. This past summer my BF & I flew into Denver, then drove through the Rockies to the Grand Canyon, over to Zion, then a hit Bryce and the Arches in a big circl..."Bryce Canyon, we loved it. Such an unexpected pleasure!
Janice, I am impressed with T.C. Boyle's writing. I also gave his San Miguel four stars. Ages ago I read Loving Frank. I gave both four stars but this one is better. It covers all the women and more of his life. Here it is evening, but I get what you mean, and thank you. I am in Sweden. It is totally dark out, but it is getting lighter day by day.
Chrissie & Angela - thanks for your reviews, I've added both to my shelf.
Julia , thank you . Hope you enjoy the book .
Julia, have you read T.C. Boyle before? I am hoping you too will enjoy his writing as much as I do. He is a relatively new author for me. He writes lots of short stories and I prefer long so I don't have that many choices!The Tortilla Curtain is the one I plan to read next.Oh, and you are certainly welcome.
@Diana: I don't know I thought there would be more to the story of the Miniaturist, like how she was able to predict the future. I thought I would be drawn into the book instead I just kept on reading because I wanted the book to end. Yes there are so many people who loved the book but there are people like me too who don't like it.
@Chrissie - I have never read anything by him before, but I do have a couple of his books on my shelf.
THANK YOU, Diane, for telling me. I just requested it to be made available at Audible. I have also asked them about Drop City, which you praised.Julia, don't put them off too long! I made exactly that mistake.
Chrissie wrote: "Julia, have you read T.C. Boyle before? I am hoping you too will enjoy his writing as much as I do. He is a relatively new author for me. He writes lots of short stories and I pref..."I read Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle many years ago but the story has vividly remained with me.
Nancy from NJ wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Julia, have you read T.C. Boyle before? I am hoping you too will enjoy his writing as much as I do. He is a relatively new author for me. He writes lots of short s..."Great. I will be reading that soon.
Wow, what a surprise?! When I started The Hours it really gave me a hard time, but by the end I realized something had happened and I liked it!My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
which explains why my view changed.
I've read The Passion Of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland. This cover displays the artist's rendition of St Agnes
My review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Rahat wrote: "@Diana: I don't know I thought there would be more to the story of the Miniaturist, like how she was able to predict the future. I thought I would be drawn into the book instead I just kept on read..."I'm with you, Rahat, I wanted to find out how she 'predicted' the future. Did not enjoy the book.
Great review, Bette! I gave that one four stars too, AND I recently purchased Luncheon of the Boating Party by the same author. I love this painting by Renoir. I've been to his country house, a museum in France now.
Chrissie wrote: "Wow, what a surprise?! When I started The Hours it really gave me a hard time, but by the end I realized something had happened and I liked it!My review: https://www.goodreads.com/re..."
I feel relieved! I'm really glad you gave it 3 stars and that you enjoyed it.
dely wrote: "I feel relieved! I'm really glad you gave it 3 stars and that you enjoyed it."Yes, your suggestion to read The Hours was spot-on. At the same time you know I will be completely honest in expressing my view.
Chrissie wrote: "dely wrote: "I feel relieved! I'm really glad you gave it 3 stars and that you enjoyed it."Yes, your suggestion to read The Hours was spot-on. At the same time you know I will be com..."
I like honesty! ;D
Chrissie wrote: "Great review, Bette! I gave that one four stars too, AND I recently purchased Luncheon of the Boating Party by the same author. I love this painting by Renoir. I've been to his country..."Thanks for the tip, Chrissie, I've added that book to my tbr.
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My review is..."
'
Read it some months ago. Liked it even if I've found it not going as deep as it could. In Perugia we have a painting by her and one by her father at the National Gallery of Umbria
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My review: https://www.goodreads.com/re..."
Chrissie, so glad you liked it by the end. I was worried the lgbt themes would put you off slightly because you might not relate to them, but as you say in your review the author gets the reader into the heads of these characters well. So even though in some ways the book wasn't a natural fit for you, I thought maybe you'd like it somewhat. And you did! :)
The portrayal of Woolf is fairly fascinating, I think. I'm almost done with the book now myself, will probably finish tomorrow.
You pegged me right, Greg! Great, I am looking forward to your review!
I'd like to learn more about Woolf, so I've added The Hours. Chrissie, I liked your review. Greg, look forward to reading yours!
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I'll write a review of The Hours to capture my thoughts after I've finished - you and Chrissie have inspired me :)
Greg, were you never confused in the beginning? I attacked the book with NO previous knowledge except that I knew it had to do with Woolf. I don't know....MUST one read a book description before you open a book?!
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Chrissie, I did not actually get confused, but there could be a couple reasons for that:
I already know some things about Woolf's life from other sources; so I think that helped me in the Mrs Woolf sections.
In the Mrs Brown sections, the audiobook was very confusing; so I switched to reading the paperback copy. The problem with the Mrs Brown sections was that it was NOT clear in the audiobook which parts were quotes from the book Mrs. Dalloway that Mrs Brown was reading and which parts were Mrs Brown's thoughts. It WAS clear in the paperback because all the parts from the book Mrs. Dalloway were printed in Italics. I think if I listened to just the audiobook, I would have been confused in the Mrs Brown sections. Since I read the paperback, I wasn't.
Greg, I didn't have trouble with Virginia's sections either, but I did already bits about her life and death.. It was the fictional parts that threw me. The Clarissa section's caused me problems in the beginning since she is called Mrs D. rd. Absolutely, the Laura Brown section, when that hit me for the first time, was totally confusing. I didn't know there was going to be another thread....;but yeah it certainly IS important to the story! I feel better knowing that you too were having trouble with the audio and that the written book uses italics! The audiobook should have somehow distinguished between the threads. This is only important before the reader becomes acquainted with all the different characters; then it is simple. But still, reading italics IS a pain, don't you think?
Chrissie wrote: "I don't know....MUST one read a book description before you open a book?! "I often don't read the plot and start a book without knowing anything about it (I trust the high rating of my GR's friends) and I had often nice surprises.
About The Hours, I had to look for the life of Virginia Woolf because I didn't know anything about it and this helped a lot.
Greg and Chrissie, you've pushed this book up my tbr list as well, though I want to read some more Woolf first, starting with To The Lighthouse next month. Chrissie, about book descriptions. Usually when I first encounter a book I read the back cover, or the short description of it here on GR. Then later when I pick the book up, I don't look at the description again, so have usually forgotten what it's about completely. I like this best.
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You know, I've had King's "The Pleasing Hour" on my shelf for years. It's moving to the TBR pile now!